Leather rolling and embossing machine.



O. VOSS. LEATHER ROLLING AND EMBQSSING MACHINE.

9 v APPLICATION FILED JULY 5, 1913. \"l h a Patented Mar. 17, 1914.

s snnmsmmmr 1.

0; voss. LEATHER ROLLING AND EMBOSSING MACHINE.

1 APPLICATION FILED JULY 5, 1913. LOQOASS.

O. VOSS. LEATHER ROLLING AND EMBOSSING MACHINE.

I APPLICATION FILED JULY 5, 1913. 1,090,433. Patented Mar. 1219M 3BHEETS-BHBET 3.

CARL voss, or NEWARK, NEW annsnx.

LEATHER ROLLING AND EMBOSSING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 17,1914.

Application filed m 5, 191a. Serial No. 777,453.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CARL Voss, a subject of the Emperor of Germany, andresident of Newark, county of .Essex, and State of 5 Yew Jersey, haveinvented certain. new and useful Improvements in Leather Rolling andEmbossing Machines, of which the following'is'a specificatiom- 'Theinvention relates to that class ofleather rolling and embossing machinesin which is provided a reciprocating carriage carrying a pressing rolleror cylinder which forces-the leatherupwardly against a die secured tothe under side 'of a steam box. Be-' tween each movement of the carriagethe leather is shifted inorder to bring a fresh surface under the die. 1One of the important objects of this invention is 'to provide improvedmeans for supporting the leather during the pressing operation.

A further object of the invention is to provide a vertically yieldablemeans, for supporting theleather during the pressing operation and toarrange such means so that it will be lifted by the pressingroller,;there-. by dispensing wlth the vertically shiftable tableusually employed in this type of press.

Another object of the invehtion is to pro-- vide means for giving to theleather supporting means a step-by-step movement through the machinetransversely to the line of movement of the pressing roller, therebydispensing with the hand manipulation of Y the leather on the embossingtable.

There are other-important objects and advantages of the invention whichwill appear hereinafter. I

In the drawings,Figure 1 is a side eleva- 40 tion of the machine; Fig.2a detail sectional view of the carrying belt and flexible support:therefor; Fig. 3 an end elevation of the machine; Fig. 4 a detail viewof a portion of the carrier shifting means; Fig.

5 a detail view of the automatic stop for the 3 his, 1 designates theend frames'of the mach1'ne', s'aid frames being connected near carriershifting means; Fig. 6 a detail View 0fl1l1G.f].lCtlOH Cllll3Ch of thecarrier shifting means; and Fig. 7 a detail horizontal see- I tionalview of a portion of the belt shifting means.

Referring to the various. parts by numertheir lower ends by thehorizontal traci: irons 2, one of said irons being secured to the endframes 'on each side thereof, as shown clearly in Fig. 2. These ironsform tracks or ways on which the carriage recip rocates. At each oftheir ends these track irons are provided with adjusting or levelingscrews 3. The end frames are also con-. nected together near their upperends by the longitudinally extending beams 4, these beams being alsoprovided with adjusting screws 5 in order to properly adjust the steambox 6 which is "secured to .the under side ofsaid beams. To the underside of this steam box is secured'the die or plate 7 against which theleather is forced by the pressing roller, aswill be hereinafterdescribed.

porting Wheels 10, said wheels running on thetrack irons as shown. Intheupper ends of the carriage frames is mounted a pressing roller 11," theshaft ofsaid roller being mounted in journal boxes .12, said boxes beingsupported and pressed .upwardly by springs arranged in boxes 13, saidsprings being not shown. The upward pressure of these springs may beregulated by means of the hand wheel 14 on the shaft of which are worms(not shown) which engage the worm wheels 16. The rotation of the wormwheels serves to force upwardly the springs in the boxes 13 andthereby'increase the upward pressure on the journal boxes. Thisarrangement is common in this type of press and for that reason is notillus trated in detail in the drawings. The'pressing roller 11 is sopositioned that when it is reciprocated under the steam box :it willforce the leather directly against the die plate with sufficientpressure to secure the opposite direction in order to'reciprocate thecarriage. The screw shaft is provided at one end'beyond the end frame ofthe machine with a fast pulley 18 and'two loose pulleys 19 and 20. Theloose pulleys are designed to receive belts which move in oppositedirections. Belt shifter bars 21 and 21 are mounted to slide in suitablebearings 22 carried by the end frame of the machine, and means areprovided to reciprocate said belt shifter bars in order to move firstone belt to the fast pulley and then the other to drive the screw shaftfirstin one direction and then in the opposite direction. This. beltshifting means is designed to be operated manually, to shift the beltsto the fast pulley, and to be operated by the carriage when it reachesthe limit of its movement in either direction to shift the belts back totheir loose pulleys, to thereby stop the machine. The manually operablemeans consists of the crank arm 23 rigidly secured to a horizontal rockshaft 24 provided at its upper end with a handle 23. To the rock shaftis rigidly secured an arm 25 which is adapted to engage a pin 26 on thebelt shifter bar. 21. Itis manifest that by throwing the handle 23 .tothe left in Fig. 1, the bar 21 will be moved through.

arm 25 to shift one of the belts to the fast pulley. Rigidly secured tothe arm 25 is a vertical bar 27 which is adapted to engage a pin 28 onthe bar 21 shown clearly in Fig.

It is manifest that by moving the handle 23 to the right as shown in Fig. 1, bar 21 will be shifted by arm 27 moving one of the belts to thefast pulley. Looselymounted on the rock shaft 24 is an arm 29, the lowerend of said arm being connected by a pin and slotconnection with thehorizontalzbelt shifting rod 30. The bar 29 lies in" the path of a pm 26on bar 21. Bar 21 carriesapin 32, said bar 29 lying between said pins 26and 32, as shown clearly in Fi s. 1 and 7. Belt shifting rod. 30 isprovi ed near its ends with collars 33 which are adapted to be engagedby stops 34'secured, to the carriage. When the crank arm 23 ,is

moved toward the left,- as shown in Fig. 1,-

the pin 26 is moved close to the bar 29 and one belt is shifted to thefast pulley to rotate the screw shaft in the proper direction to movethe carriage toward the left hand end of the machine. When stop 34engages collar 33 the rod 30.will be moved toward the left and bar 29"will en age pin 26 therebymoving belt shifterb r-21 to return the beltto the loose pulley. By moving the pin 28 will slide bar 21 and shiftone of the belts to the fast pulley. The movementof the'bar 21 willplaee pin'32 close to. the bar 29.. When the carriagereaches thelimitoff its movement toward" the right the rod 30' will be shifted,thereby causing bar 29 to engage pin 32 and thereby return belt shifterbar 21 to its normal position.

The foregoing is a well known form of belt shifting means and it is tobe understood that any other suitable means for automatically shiftingthe belt may be employed.

To form a vertically yieldable pressing table a flexible strip 35 ofleather or other suitable material, is stretched longitudinally. of themachine directly under the steam box. At one end this flexible table orsupport is secured to a rod 36 supported by studs 37 mounted in crossbar 38 connected to the adjoining end frame of the machine. The otherend of this flexible table is secured to a shaft 39 carried by studs 40."This shaft is adapted to be rotated to stretch or tighten the flexiblesupport, and is held against rotation in one direction by means of aratchet and pawl 41. The supportin studs are so mounted that they mayyield vertically slightly at their inner free ends to permit thepressing roller to pass under them and also to permit the flexiblesupportin table tomoveiupwardly slightly toward the embossing die. I

To facilitate the upward swinging movement of the studs 37 and 40 convexwashers 42 are provided which fit concave'recesses formed in the ends ofthe cross bars 38-, said cross bars being secured to the endframes ofthe machine. The upward swinging movement of the studsand the belt isvery slight and the stretch of the belt is sufficient to permit thepressing r'ollerto pass under the rods 36' and 39.

To support the entire hide or sheet of leather to be embossed I providea transversely extending endless carrier 43. This carrier is ofsufiicient width to support the complete hide, if that be desired, andpasses -3. This endless carrier is supported by means of frames 44which. carry rollers 45 in their upper endsand large drums 46 and 46 attheir lower ends. Of course, any suitable means may be provided to keepthis carrier at a proper .tension. The table 35 not only' supports thecarrier under the steam box and die but it holds said carrier againstlateral or sidewise distortion under the action of the pressing. roller.It is obvious that the pressing roller will bear directly on theflexible table 35 and that,

therefpre, there will be no tendency to shift the carrier. 'The endframes 44 are placed a suitable distance from the mainframe of themachine so that the entire hide or sheet of leather may be adjusted onthe flexible carrier'between the supporting frame 44 and Y ratchetclutch 48.

enable the operator to arrange the leather properly on the carrier sothat after the pressing operation is once begun it will. not henecessary'for him to again touch the leather until it isremoved from thecarrier after it has passed under the die.

In order to shift the carrier a uniform distance after eachressingoperation I provide shaft 47 of eed drum 46% with a This clutchconsists of a notched disk 49 rigidly secured to the shaft and provided,with the gripping balls 50; and a gripping member 51 whichincloses thedisk and .operates to bind on the gripping balls when moved in thedirection of the arrow in Fig. 4' to thereby turnthe shaft 47; and to bereleased from said disk when the gripping member 51 is moved in theopposite direction. The gripping memher is provided with a radiallyslotted arm 52. in which'is adjustably mounted a'link 53, the pivotalend of said link beingadjusted toward and from the shaft 4:7 by a screw5%, for apurpose-which will be hereinafter set forth. Connected to thefree end of the link 53 is a crank arm 55 which is mounted on the end ofa clutch shaft 56. Secured, to this shaft is a friction clutch 57between the members of which is mounted a sprocket. wheel '58, saidwheel turning loosely on the clutch shaft. The sprocket wheel 58 isdriven by chains 59 and 60 and intermediate chain wheels 61 from thescrew shaft 17. It is obvious, therefore, that the chain wheel 58rotates constantly.

'The clutch members 57 are brought into a frictional engagement with thegear 58 by means of spring 62 which may be suitably adjusted to securethe proper frictional 'engagement between the parts.-

To look the clutch shaft 56 against movement I provide a locking rod. 63carrying the locking jaw 64 adapted to engage the crank arm 55 when thesaid arm has reached a certain point in its rotation. The locking rod 63is connected to the upper end of a. pivoted lever 65; the lower end ofsaid lever being connected to a spring 66 which .arm 55 the locking jawwill be forced out-.

wardly to permit the crank arm to enter between the members of said jaw;.To release the locking jaw the lever 65 is connect- .ed to an operatingrod 67, said rod being provided with a releasing lever 68. Thisreleasing lever is preferably. located .m a

' position to be readily reached by. the operator. As shown in. Fig. lit is placed at the same end of the machine with the operating lever 23so that the operator may readily reach the means for starting thepressing roller carriage and' also the means for'releasing the clutch topermit the carrier to be shifted.

In operation the pressing roller carriage comes to a stop at each end ofits travel.

Vv'hen the'carriage is at rest the operator releases the locking jaw 64thereby permitting the friction clutch topause the rotation of shaft 56.The rotation of the shaft 56, through crank 55 and link 53, operates theratchet clutch 48 and gives the feed drum 46 a partial rotation therebyshiftingthe carrierbelt. The friction between the plate '57 and the gear58 is sufficient to cause the movement of the carrier belt when lockingjaw 64 is released, the gear 58 at other times slipping betweenthe-disks 57. It is manifest that when the locking jaw 64 is releasedthe carrier belt will'be shifted a fixed distance and that thefcrank arm65 will be again locked bythe jaw 64 when said arm has made onerevolution. By means of this feed mechanism the hide to be embossed isshifted accurately for each impression and the operator is relieved ofthe necessity of carefully. adjusting the hide with respect to theembossing die. The hide is supported on both sides of the embossingmechanism so that there is no tendency for it to be dragged out ofposition by its own weight either before it is embossed or, after it haspartly passed through the machine.

What I claim is:

1. A leather rolling press comprising a frame, a carriage, a presserroller mounted in the upper end of said carriage, a die plate, aflexible table or support abovethe carriage and below the dieplate,fstiid table extending in the direction of thetravel of thecarriage and beyond the ends of the die plate, means for supporting.said table at the ends thereof, means for placing a tension on 'saidflexible table; a transversely movable endless carrier belt having oneply thereof only between the flexible table and the die plate, means formoving said endless carrier in one direction, and means for supportingsaid carrier at a tension throughout its entire length, said means beinglocated at a distance from the main frame whereby the upper ply of thecarrier belt will form a table to support the leather before and afterit is embossed.

2. A leather rolling press comprising a frame, a carriage, a prcsserroller mounted in the upper end of said carriage, a die plate. aflexible table or support above the carriage and below the die plate,said t'able extending in the direction of the travel of the carriage andbeyond the ends of the die plate, means for supporting said table at theendsthereof, means for placing a tension on said flexiards near theupper and lower ends thereof,

said rollers supporting the carrier belt at the proper tensionthroughout its length, the

upper ply of the carrier belt between the Standards forming a broad flattable or support for the leather, means for intermittently rotating oneof the rolls in one of the standards to thereby intermittently move thecarrier belt, said intermittently operating means feeding the carrierbelt a predetel-mined distance during each stepor movement. v 3.'Aleather rolling press comprising a frame, a carriage, a presser rollermounted in the upper end of said carriage, a die plate, a flexible tableor support above the carriage and below the die plate, said tableextending in the direction of the travel of the carriage and beyond theends of the die plate, means for supporting said table at theends'thereof, a transversely movable endless carrier belt having one plythereof only between the flexible table and the die plate, a pair ofstandards located on opposite sides of the machine frame, rollerscarried by said standards near the upper and lower ends thereof, saidrollers supporting the carrier belt at the proper tension throughout itslength, the upper ply ,of the carrier belt between the standards forminga broad flat table or support for the leather, a constantly drivenclutch member, an intermittently operating clutch .member, means forlocking the intermitte'ntlyoperating clutch member, means for releasingsaid clutch member, and means for connecting the intermittentlyoperating clutch member to one of the carrier belt supporting rolls tointermittentlymove said roll in one direction, whereby the carrier beltwill be given a step-by-step motion in one direction.

4. A leather rolling press comprising a frame, a carriage, a presserroller mounted in the upper end of said carriage, a die plate, a.flexible table or support above the carriage and below the die plate,said table extending in the direction of the travel of the carriage andbeyond the ends of the die plate, means for supporting said table at theends thereof, a transversely movable endless carrier belt having one plythereof only between the flexible table and the die plate,

a pair of standards located on opposite sides of the machine frame,rollers carried by said standards near the upper'and lowerends' thereof,'said rollers supporting the carrier belt at,the proper tensionthroughout its length the upper ply of the carrier belt be- .tween thestandards forminga broad flat I table or support forthe leather, aconstantly driven clutch member, a friction clutch,

member constantly engaging the driven clutch member, means forlockingthe friction clutch member, means for releasing said lockingmeans, means for connecting the friction clutch member to one of thecarrier belt supporting rolls to intermittently rotate said roll in onedirection.

5. A leather rolling press comprising a frame, a carriage, a presserroller mounted in the upper end of said carriage, a die plate,

a flexible table or supportabove the car-.

riage and below the die plate, said table extending'in the direction-ofthe travel of the carriage and beyond the ends of the die plate, meansfor supporting said table at the ends thereof, a transversely movableendless carrier belt having one ply thereof only between the flexibletable and the die plate, i

a pair of standards located on opposite sides of the machine frame,rollers carried by said standards near the upper and lower ends thereof,said rollers supporting the carrier belt at the proper tensionthroughout its length, the upper ply of the carrier belt between thestandards forming a broad flat table or support for the leather, aconstantly driven clutch member, a, friction clutch member constantlyengaging the driven clutch member, means for automatically locking thefriction clutch member, means for releasing said locking means to permitthe friction clutch member to make one revolution, means for connectingthe friction clutch member to one of-the carrier belt supporting rollsto intermittently rotate said roll in one direction.

6. A leather rolling press comprising a frame, a carriage, a pressmgroller mounted in said carriage, means for reciprocating said carriage,a flexiblejtable or support above the carriage, a presser, plate abovesaid table, and a transversely movable flexible carrier betweenthegflexible table and the presser plate. 4

7. A leather rolling press comprising a frame, a carriage, apresserroller mounted in the upper end of said carriage, a presser plate, aflexible table or support abovethe carriage, ..a transversely movableendless carrier belt adapted to move in one direction between theflexible table and the presser plate, means for moving said flexiblecarrier a fixed distance and means for automatically stopping theflexible carrier.

8. A leather rolling press comprising a frame a carriage, a presserroller mounted in-the upper end of'said carriage, a die plate,

a flexible table or support above the carriage and below the die plate,a transversely movable endless carrier belt adapted to move in onedirection between the flexible table and the die plate, means for movingsaiol flexible carrier, means .for locking the carrier moving means,means for releasing said carrier moving means and means forautomatically locking said moving means after the carrier belt is moveda predetermined "distance.

In testimony whereof I hereunto .aflix my signature in the presence oftwo Witnesses. CARL VOSS.

Witnesses:

MELOHIOR I. O. WALTER, F. D. MACFADDEN.

